Ants have become, unfortunately, a common household pest. They like to invade homes in search of warmth, especially in the winter months. They tend to form colonies around kitchen and bathroom plumbing, where they have ready access to water.
Ants can also bring with them asthma and allergic reactions, according to WebMd. The yellowish Pharaoh ants seem to be the worst offenders in this regard. This species of ant has a remarkable ability to establish nests in some of the most inaccessible parts of your home, such as voids between walls. They have been proven to cause respiratory allegoric reactions in more sensitive people.
The trick to controlling ants that have invaded your home is to locate the nest and eradicate them with the use of an insecticide. You have to eliminate the entire colony, else the survivors will just pack up and reestablish themselves elsewhere and the problem will start all over again. A preferred method for controlling Pharaoh ants is the deployment of baits that workers gather and bring back to the colony and then feed to the queen, which sterilizes her. Then the ant colony dies out naturally over time.
An ounce of prevention, in this case, is certainly worth a pound of cure. You should check for gaps in your doors, windows, and pipe and seal them with caulk and weather stripping. Examine your roof, and see if any points of ingress exist there, as well.
An ant infestation, especially of Pharaoh ants, is often a job for a professional exterminator.
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